ISLAMABAD: A delegation comprising senior officials of Haier Groups of Companies called on Minister of State for IT & Telecom Anusha Rahman to discuss the viability of establishing mobile manufacturing units in Pakistan, on Thursday in Islamabad.
Source: Daily Times
Federal IT Secretary Azmat Ali Ranjha was also present in the meeting. Haier officials apprised the minister regarding their market experiences since 2001, when they first entered the Pakistan market and started producing air conditioners and other brands of home appliances and within the fourteen years; Haier Pakistan has maintained the higher market share being the second highest brand in the country.
And now, they told the minister, they have realised that after introducing next generation 3G/4G services, Pakistan has become a lucrative market for smartphone manufacturing. Therefore, Haier is keenly interested to establish a smartphone manufacturing plant in Pakistan. The delegates further said that they don’t want to import mobile phones but their focus is on the transfer of technology in the country so that they could manufacture their own products here.
The minister appreciated their endeavour by stating that Pakistan has become a land of opportunities especially in IT& Telecom sector after introduction of 3G/4G services. “Our government is religiously pursuing the agenda of accelerated digitisation. After 3G/4G, local mobile manufacturing has become a priority on our agenda which we want to materialise as early as possible,” she said. Moreover, Anusha said, with highly increasing number of smartphone users there is an ample room for investment in this area. She also informed the delegates regarding special incentives being offered including tax relaxations, which have already been announced in the recent budget to promote “local manufacturing in Pakistan”.
She further stated that Pakistan has educated and skilled young labour force, which will surely make the “local manufacturing endeavour as a cost effective phenomenon”. She concluded by saying that “our nearly 200 million population with high growth rate of mobile industry indicates a huge requirement for local manufacturing units in the country”.
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